Karel Capek Quotes

If dogs could talk, perhaps we would find it as hard to get along with them as we do with people.

I think I am slowly becoming an anarchist, that this is only another label for my privateness, and I think that you will understand this in the sense of being against collectivity.

Relativism is neither a method of fighting, nor a method of creating, for both of these are uncompromising and at times even ruthless; rather, it is a method of cognition.

Cognition is not fighting, but once someone knows a lot, he will have much to fight for, so much that he will be called a relativist because of it.

Great God of the Ants, thou hast granted victory to thy servants. I appoint thee honorary Colonel.

A short life is better for mankind, for a long life would deprive man of his optimism.

Robots do not hold on to life. They can't. They have nothing to hold on with - no soul, no instinct. Grass has more will to live than they do.

Nothing is stranger to man than his own image.

Quite obviously a cat trusts human beings; but she doesn't trust another cat because she knows better than we do.

A guy wanted the vet to cut his dog's tail off. The vet asked why. Well, my mother in law is visiting next month and I want to eliminate any possible indication that she is welcome.

Much melancholy has devolved upon mankind, and it is detestable to me that might will triumph in the end...

There came into the world an unlimited abundance of everything people need. But people need everything except unlimited abundance.

You never realize a dog is a man's best friend until you start betting on horses.

Let no one think that real gardening is a bucolic and meditative occupation. It is an insatiable passion, like everything else to which a man gives his heart.

You ought to know that October is the first Spring month.

Wherever on this planet ideals of personal freedom and dignity apply, there you will find the cultural inheritance of England.

My dear Miss Glory, Robots are not people. They are mechanically more perfect than we are, they have an astounding intellectual capacity, but they have no soul.

All the year round there is spring, all through life is youth; there is always something which may flower.

Socialism is good when it comes to wages, but it tells me nothing when it comes to other questions in life that are more private and painful, for which I must seek answers elsewhere.

You can have a revolution wherever you like, except in a government office; even were the world to come to an end, you'd have to destroy the universe first and then government offices.

Relativism is not indifference; on the contrary, passionate indifference is necessary in order for you not to hear the voices that oppose your absolute decrees...

The English gentleman is a combination of silence, courtesy, dignity, sport, newspapers and honesty.

After his death the gardener does not become a butterfly, intoxicated by the perfumes of the flowers, but a garden worm tasting all the dark, nitrogenous, and spicy delights of the soil.

I've found a place that would amaze you. People used to live there, but now it's all overgrown and no one goes there. Absolutely no one - only me... Just a little house and a garden. And two dogs.

Dumb dog. I bought a dog whistle. He won't use it.

I certainly don't know if you could claim that every theft is wrong, but I'll prove to you that every theft is forbidden, by simply locking you up.

Among human beings, a cat is merely a cat; among cats, a cat is a prowling shadow in a jungle.

One never knows whether people have principles on principle or whether for their own personal satisfaction.

It was a great thing to be a human being. It was something tremendous. Suddenly I'm conscious of a million sensations buzzing in me like bees in a hive. Gentlemen, it was a great thing.

Man will never be enslaved by machinery if the man tending the machine be paid enough.

Art must not serve might.

As is well known, all collectors are prepared to steal or murder if it is a question of getting another piece for their collection; but this does not lower their moral character in the least.

Only years of practice will teach you the mysteries and bold certainty of a real gardener, who treads at random, yet tramples on nothing.

We´re two, two for everything, for love, life, for a fight and pain, for hours of happiness. Two for wins and losses, for life and for death - TWO!

If one must fight or create, it is necessary that this be preceded by the broadest possible knowledge.

There are several ways to lay out a little garden; the best way is to get a gardener.